velopment of the community. Each of these
core topics is subdivided into individual
spheres of activity totalling 37. Anyone who
at first glance finds this number daunting
can be reassured to the extent that the report
in accordance with ISO 26000 is voluntary,
leaving the choice of the spheres
of activity up to the businessman. He should
give reasons why the spheres of activity he
chose are relevant to his company. This is
also designated as a materiality analysis.
Organizational governance
Organizational governance is pivotal, because
it connects all other areas and thus
makes sustainable business at all possible.
In the following, we will single out specific
examples of spheres of activity from the
core topics of “human rights, the environment,
and the inclusion and development
of the community.”
Human rights
Here it is a matter of discrimination and
groups in need of protection. Any kind of
discrimination is, of course, taboo in a company
– but are people with disabilities, for
instance, being employed and thus specifically
furthered? It is worth reporting
on this.
The environment
Energy and raw materials consumption are
very different in different industries, but
using them efficiently is paramount. In this
sphere of activity, companies can describe
how they contribute to countering climate
change and adapting their organization accordingly.
This also includes the now widespread
carbon footprint.
Including and developing the
community
One of the spheres of activity is concerned
with investments in favour of the common
good. This traditionally meant supporting
cultural, municipal, or charitable activities
by making donations of money or in kind.
For the purpose of meeting the obligations
of the German Constitution, you might also
consider how the business’ actions promote
the common good directly, without taking
the route of donations. Explaining how this
6
Sustainable Promotionional Articles
THE 7 CORE THEMES OF CSR
Consumer
concerns
Integration and
development of
community
Fair oper ationall
and business
practices
Holistic approach
Organizations
ORGANIZATION
leadership
Interdependence
Source: Vitt, J., Kleinfeld, A., Thoms, M. (2011) Gesellschaftliche
Verantwortung nach DIN ISO 26000. Eine Enführung mit Hinweisen
für Anwender. Zürich.
consideration could become the starting
point of a sort of corporate strategy would
go beyond the scope of this article and is
only mentioned here as food for thought.
Including internal and external stakeholders
corresponds to the basic concern of
sustainability reporting, because it not only
creates transparency, but also sets a trend
for renewal. The hackneyed word “innovation”
was intentionally avoided here.
SOFTWARE-BASED DATA COLLECTION
It is clear that all portions of an enterprise
have to record key figures, whether in evaluating
human resources statistics, ascertaining
energy consumption in production
Human Rights
Environment
Labour practices
and logistics, tracking supply chains and
auditing suppliers, or even measuring volumes
of waste and portion of cycled products.
Considering the large number of parameters,
it is obvious that the data will be
handled with the support of appropriate
software. There are not a number of vendors,
from which we have chosen “360report”
as an example because it seems particularly
user friendly.
MODERN SOLUTIONS
As a rule, the situation can still be described
by the following image: by means of centralized
data collection and processing, a
report evolves in the course of a lengthy